Yup, you are dead on, bro. That did the trick. You definitely know your stuff. Where is this written by the way?

Update: Looks like I need to get in the habit of going right to the POD first, big time. The answer is right there in Red, Green, & Blue at perlref. Let this be a lesson to all!

$PM = "Perl Monk's";
$MCF = "Most Clueless Friar Abbot";
$nysus = $PM . $MCF;